Without limiting the scope of the invention, The pointing of lasers towards flying aircraft is a current and evolving threat to civil, commercial, and government/military aviation worldwide. The number of incidents continues to grow, while the apprehension of perpetrators is significantly lagging. This situation is further aggravated by the easy availability of increasingly powerful consumer grade lasers in the multi-Watt range. For example, one can easily purchase a 2 Watt green laser pointer for about $200 on the Internet, made in China and delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. It is only a matter of time before either a malicious (e.g., terrorist, criminal) or a merely mischievous perpetrator startles or temporarily blinds the pilot of a passenger-bearing commercial airliner, precipitating a catastrophic, fatal crash. The FBI has a highly informative video on their webpage titled “Making a Point About Lasers”.
It seems that the reason the perpetrator in this particular video was arrested was that his laser pointer happened to illuminate a police helicopter. Had it been any other kind of aircraft, he likely would not have been arrested.
Current approaches to address this problem include public awareness campaigns coupled with criminal sanctions and posted rewards for information; aircraft-based laser detectors; and eye protection shields for pilots.
While the public is slowly getting educated about the dangers of shining lasers skywards, relying on neighbors to report such illegal activity is not feasible due to the high directionality of the laser beam and the scattered energy. Usually the only people able to see the laser are the perpetrator and their target. Any other persons in the general vicinity cannot see the beam, and thus would not know to report it. Quite simply, a laser beam is almost impossible to see from off to the side.
Congress's heightened concern has led to laws criminalizing the pointing of lasers at aircraft with felony criminal and civil penalties. The FBI offers a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, according to their webpage.
An FBI news release includes the following quotation:                “I can't stress enough how dangerous and irresponsible it is to point a laser at an aircraft,” said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. “We know that targeted enforcement has succeeded in driving down laser incidents in a number of cities, and we'll continue to partner with law enforcement to address this problem nationwide.” In addition, the FAA has implemented procedures for airmen to report laser incidents (see FAA Advisory Circular number 70-2A on the subject of “Reporting of Laser Illumination of Aircraft”).        
And for years now the FAA has maintained a detailed database of reported incidents. In fact, the number of laser incidents has increased fourteen-fold since 2005, rising to nearly 4,000 in 2013 alone. More information about the threat is available at the FAA's website for the Laser Safety Initiative.
There exists a dangerous capability gap in protecting commercial aircraft at major airports from laser targeting during the most vulnerable phases of flight: approach and landing, and take-off. Advisory Circular number 70-2A (cited above) states the FAA's intent to “expeditiously locate the source of unauthorized laser transmissions.” The Advisory Circular also talks about “[r]esearch . . . by Government and private industry focusing on technological solutions for enhancing aircrew safety during laser incidents.” It is not clear whether such research currently includes real-time detection and location-finding technology described herein. Effective personal protective equipment for pilots is desirable, but it is an entirely passive measure and does nothing to catch perpetrators. The fullest measure of aviation safety can only be achieved through increased law enforcement effectiveness stemming from robust investment in innovative effective technology.